This invention relates to improved ovens and more particularly to such ovens that are adapted for simultaneously broiling one class of items such as hamburgers while applying lesser heat to another class of items such as hamburger buns.
As is well known to those skilled in the art, there are many applications in which it is desirable to simultaneously apply differing levels of heat to edible items while they are being processed. These include items such as hot dogs and hamburgers in which a meat item is heated and cooked, while at the same time the associated bun is warmed and/or toasted.
Many ovens have been proposed for carrying out the foregoing, among them being those identified in K. G. Hatch U.S. Pat. No. 3,400,651 on Sept. 10, 1968, E. D. Baker 3,580,164 on May 25, 1971, R. L. Duning 3,739,712 on June 19, 1973, E. A. Reid, Jr. 3,815,489 on June 11, 1974, J. S. Brown 4,023,007 on May 10, 1977, A. G. Masters 4,421,015 on Dec. 20, 1983 and K. Persson 4,568,552 on Feb. 5, 1986. As will be evident from reference to these patents, the Baker, Reid and Masters patents disclose apparatus for cooking burger patties and heating buns simultaneously in the same cooking device. In addition, Reid discloses the use of "spillover" heat from the burners of the patty cooker to heat toast the associated buns in a separate cooking tunnel. Moreover, the Masters, Hatch and Brown patents disclose electric cooking; Hatch and Masters show feed and delivery of the product at the same end of the oven; and Brown discloses heat reflector baffles on which grease drippings are allowed to fall. However, although the proposals of these patents include certain features individually or in limited combinations, and although they appear useful in a variety of cooking applications, there has nevertheless continued to be a need for an improved oven that embodies more of the most attractive features, including being adapted for mounting beneath a serving countertop, feed and delivery of both meat and bun from the front, using the same heating elements to heat both sides of the heated item without turning it over, includes provisions for individually heating simultaneously at different heat levels three items, and provides for firing of fat drippings in order to impart to the meat product a desirable smoked flavor.